Mail-bag catcher and deliverer.



J'.' WOOD. MAIL BAG OATGHER AND DELIVERBR.

APPLIOATIOH IILED- MAY 21, 1908.

Patgnted Sept. 15, 1908.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

JNVENTOR. James Wood.

ATTORNEY.

lllllllla WITNESSES:

THE NORRIS PETERS co., wasumcmu, B4 c.

J. WOOD. MAIL BAG GATGHEE AND DELIVBRER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21, 1908.

Patented Sept. 15, 1908.

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R m m V 0 O O W S m V1 mB WITNESSES.-

h @JWM ATTORNEY.

J. WOOD.

MAIL BAG GATGHER AND DELIVBRER.

. APPLICATION FILED MAY 21, 1908.

898,812. Patented Sept. 15, 1908.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- WITNESSES.- IN VENTOR. 3 James Wood. Jl/L BY ATTORNEY.

rm: NORRIS PEf-TRS 1:1 WASHIRG101\, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. JAMES WOOD, OF NOBLESVILLE, INDIANA,ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN OWEN, OF NOBLESVILLE, INDIANA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 15, 1908.

Application filed May 21, 1908. Serial No. 434,029.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMEs W001), of'Noblesville, county of Hamilton, andState of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Mail-BagCatcher and Deliverer; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in which like letters refer to like parts.

The object of this invention is to improve the construction of means forreceiving and delivering mail bags.

The novel features of the invention will be understood from theaccompanying drawings and the following description and claims:

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a post beside therailway for receiving and delivering mail bags, two mail bags beingshown thereon, and a vertical transverse sec tion of a portion of a mailcar and railroad on which the same is running. Fig. 2 is a plan view ofthe post and its attachments, as shown in Fig. 1, without any mail bagsthereon, the different position of the bag receiving arm being shown bydotted lines. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the upper part of the postand its attachments shown on an enlarged scale and showing a mail bag inposition to be picked up by a passing car. Fig. 4 is a side elevation ofa portion of the lower bagholding arm the latter being in idle positionand parts broken away. Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. 3 withthe mail bag omitted, the horizontal position of said lower bag holdingarms being shown by dotted lines and partly broken away. Fig. 6 is afront elevatlon of the upper part of the post and its attachments. Fig.7 is a section on the line 77 of Fig. 3. Fig. 8 is a side elevation ofthe arm on the car. Fig. 9 is a plan view of the same shown in positionready to drop one bag and pick up another. FigQlO is a plan view of thesame shown in position when the mail bag is picked up.

The post 10 beside the railway 11 has a casting 12 secured to the upperend which is provided with a horizonta ly extending upper plate 13 and alower horizontal Cplate 14 spaced apart to receive the inner en 8 of thebars 15 which form a part of the bag-receiving arm and are fulcrumed bybolts 16 which project vertically through the plates 13 and 14.

As shown in Fig. 2, the bars 15 are parallel and at their outer ends arepivoted by vertical bolts 17 to an upper horizontal bag-receiving bar 19that projects in both directions from the ends of the bars 15 and haveupwardly turned catches 20 on its upper side at its ends. There is alsoa plate 21 mounted on the bolts 17 at their lower ends, as shown in Fig.3 that has a rearward projection 22 in which one end of the spring 23catches. The other end'of the spring is caught in the perforated lug 24on the under side of the plate 14. The spring 23 and the lugs 22 and 24are located under a line midway between the plates 15, as shown in Figs.2 and 3, so that in whichever direction the bag-receiving arm may bethrown by the impact of the bag received from a passing car, as shown inFig. 2, the same will be returned to the normal position by the spring23. The car 25 has a bagdelivering arm 26 fulcrumed to the side of thedoor casing at 27 so as to swing horizontally and hold the mail-bag 28in position to be caught by the bag-recelvmg arm mounted on the post 10.The bag is carried, as shown in Fig. 3, by a ring 30 having a downwardlyextending hook 31. The arm 26 has on its outer end a projection 48 forpicking up a mail bag from a post beside the railway which extends at aright angle with the arm 26 and has a heel 46 provided with a notch 49to receive the rectangular shank of the hook 31 which is gripped andheld by the heel 52 of the bar 50, said heel having notch 53corresponding with the notch 49. The bar 50 is fulcrumed by the pin 51on the arm 26 and is held in position to clamp a mail bag by the trip 60fulcrumed at 61 on the bar 48 so that the inner end of the bar 60 willengage a shoulder 62 on the bar 50. They will also hold the bar 50 awayfrom the receiving end of the bar 48 when in position to receive a bag.

The parts mounted on the arm 26, as shown in Fig. 9, are in position todischarge a mail bag or receive another. As the car passes the post, thetrip 60 will engage one of the trip actuating bars 35 which projects outfrom the post and be thrown from the position shown in Fig. 9 to thatshown in Fig. 10. This movement of the bar 50 is caused by the spring 54which is fastened at 55 to the arm 26 and to the heel 52 of the bar 50,but separates the heels of the bars 48 and 50 and frees the mail bagwhich is to be left on the post and at the same time the bar 48 picks upthe bag which was on the post as will hereafter be explained and at thesame time the spring 54 causes the bar 50, the end of which is hooked,to close in with the bar 48, like shears, and hold the ring 30 of themail bag caught and prevent its escape.

There are two of the trip bars 35', one on each side of the post 10 andfulcrumed at 36 to the casting 12. They are held in their upperhorizontal positions by pins 37 projecting through downwardly extendingears 38 from the plate 14. The purpose in having two trip bars 35 is toaccommodate the device to catch bags coming in both direc tions. Theouter ends of the bars 35 are turned downwardly so as to extendvertically in position to be engaged by the trip 60. When the pin 37 iswithdrawn, the bar 35 supported by it will hang downwardly.

Turning now to the means for holding the bagon the post to be picked upby the car, there are two oppositely-extending short fingers on theplate 21 on which the ring 30 of the bag is hung and it is held thereontemporarily by the lower bag-holding arm 71' and the parts connectedtherewith. The arm or bar 71 is pivoted in the bracket 72 by a verticalpin 73 so that bar will have a horizontal movement as indicated in Fig.5 by dotted lines. The bracket 72 is fulcrumed to the bracket 74 securedto the post 10 by a horizontal pivot 75 so that said bracket willoscillate vertically and enable the bar 71 to hang downwardly as shownin Fig. 4, when not in use. A stop 76 projects upwardly, from thebracket 72 so as to limit the upward movement of the arm 71 to the.horizontal position. The arm 71 at its outer end has two upwardlyextending ears 77, one on each side, as shown in Fig. 5, through which ahorizontal pin 78 extends for fulcruming the bell crank lever 79, whichhas a long rearwardly extending end provided with a downwardlyprojectingguide rod 80 that is curved concentrically with the pin 78 and is guidedby a hole in the bar 71 through which the rod 80 projects. Spiral spring81 surrounds the rod 80 between the bars 71 and the lever 79 so as totend to hold the lever 79 in the position shown in Fig. 3. A fork 82 isswiveled in the other end of the bell crank lever 79 so as to projectoutwardly as shown in Fig. 3 and engage the hook 31. Thearm 71 is somounted and arranged that the fork 82 will, through the connection ofthe spring 81, press downwardly on the hook 31 and thus hold the top ofthe friction ring 30 on the pin 7 0. As the car passes the finger 48enters the ring 30 and dislodges it from the pin 70 and at the same timethe arm 71 will move to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 5 byreason of the impact and the fork 82 being swiveled will turn somewhatso as to readily release the mail bag holder and permit the same to bepicked up by a passing car.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Means for delivering mail bags to passingcars which includes a mailbag holder to which a mail bag may be secured, a post, a pair of armsprojecting therefrom one above the other, a pin on the upper arm forsupporting the upper part of the mail bag holder, and means connectedwith the lower arm releasably engaging said mail-bag holder and tendingto hold the mail bag holder on said p 2. Means for delivering mail bagsto pass ing cars which includes a mail bag holder to which a mail bagmay be secured, a post, a pair of arms projecting therefrom horizontallyone above the other, a pin on the upper arm for supporting the upperpart of the mail bag holder, and means connected with the lower armreleasably engaging said mail bag holder and tending to draw itdownwardly and thus hold it temporarily on the pin on the upper arm.

3. Means for delivering mail bags to passing cars which includes a mailbag holder to which a mail bag may be secured, a post, a

pair of arms projecting therefrom horizontally one above the other, thelower of said arms being laterally movable, a pin on the upper arm forsupporting the upper part of the mail bag holder, and means connectedwith the lower arm releasably engaging said mail bag holder and tendingto draw it'down wardly and thus hold it temporarily on the pin on theupperarm.

4. Meansfor delivering mail bags to passing carswhich includes a mailbag holder to which a mail bag may be secured, a post, a pair of-armsprojecting therefrom oneabove the other, a pin on the upper arm forsupporting the upper part of the mail bag holder, means on the outer endof the lower arm for engaging said mail bag holder, and a springacting-on said means to cause it to press downwardly'on the mail bagholder.

5. Means for delivering mail bags to passing cars which includes a mailbag holder to which a mail bag may be secured, a post, a pair of armsprojecting therefrom one above the other, a pin on the upper arm forsupporting the upper part of the mail bag holder, and means connectedwith the lower arm releasably engaging-said mail bag holder and tendingto hold the mail bag holderon said pin, said lower arm being mounted soas to oscillate both horizontally and vertically, substantially as setforth.

6. Means for delivering mail bags to passing cars which includes a mailbag holder to porting the upper part of the mail bag holder, meansconnected with the lower arm releasably engaging said mail bag holderand tending to hold the mail bag holder on said pin, said lower armbeing mounted so as to oscillate both horizontally and vertically, and astop engaging said post for limiting the upward movement of said lowerarm to the horizontal position, substantially as set forth.

7. Means for delivering mail bags to passing cars which includes a mailbag holder to which a mail bag may be secured, a post, a pair of armsprojecting therefrom one above the other, a pin on the upper arm forsupporting the upper part of the mail bag holder, means connected withthe lower arm releasably engaging said mail bag holder and tending tohold the mail bag holder on said pin, a bell crank lever fulcrumed inthe outer end of said lower arm so as to be vertically oscillatory, afork swiveled in one end of said lever in position to engage the mailbag holder, a guide for guiding the vertical movement of the other endof said lever, and a spring tending to elevate the last mentioned end ofthe lever whereby said fork may press downwardly upon some part of saidmail bag holder.

8. Means for holding and delivering mail bags to passing cars includinga post, a horizontally disposed arm for holding the mail bag and that ispivoted to the post and extends outwardly therefrom, and a spring fornormally holding said arm in its outward position and resisting lateraloscillation thereof.

9. Means for delivering mail bags to a passing car including a post, anarm formed of two parallel bars fulcrumed to said post and projectinghorizontally outwardly therefrom, a plate pivoted to the outer ends ofsaid bars, a spring extending from said plate to the post and located ina vertical plane between said bars and under tension so as to returnsaid bars normally to an outwardly extending position, and means on theouter ends of said bars for catching the mail bag.

10. Means for receiving mail bags from a passing car which includes apost beside the railway on which the car may move, an arm extending fromsaid post towards the rail way, a mail bag holder, means projecting fromthe car for holding said mail bag holder in a position to be received bythe arm projecting from the said post and provided with a trip forcausing it to release the mail bag holder, a trip bar fulcrumed to saidpost and adapted when in horizontal position to engage said trip andcause the release thereby of the mail bag holder, and means forsupporting said trip bar in its horizontal position.

11. Means for receiving mail bags from a passing car which includes apost beside the railway on which the car may move, an arm extending fromsaid post towards the railway and provided with oppositely extendingbars for catching bags delivered from a passing car, a mail bag holder,means projecting from the car for holding said mail bag holder in aposition to be received by the arm proj ecting from the said post andprovided with a trip for causing it to release the mail bag holder, apair of trip bars fulcrumed to said post one on each side thereof andadapted when in horizontal position to engage said trip and cause therelease thereby of the mail bag holder, and means for separatelysupporting said trip bars in their horizontal positions.-

In witness whereof, I have hereunto a'liixed my signature in thepresence of the witnesses herein named.

JAMES l/VOOD. lVit11esses LOUIS B. DARRAH, WILL BROWN.

